I'm looking at repainting my exterior rendered walls (again). The house is about 90 years old and, unsurprisingly, been painted many many times in the past (including by myself over the 32 years I've lived there). The render itself is sound. Each time I paint it a few new hairline cracks have appeared and the paint has lifted (made worse by poor quality paint / workmanship in the distant past). In the main I've hacked the paint back to sound paint and liberally painted again. However this has, inevitably, left somewhat unsightly, but sort of liveable, “low” patches (some of which are quite extensive, I guess due damp having got under the paint in the past). The problem has been exacerbated by the sheer number of layers of paint that have been put on in the past (seemingly much more than my neighbours). I've tried using a fine exterior filler to fill some low patches in the past, but this has not lasted well and so, unless there has been dramatic improvement in the quality of such fillers, I am reluctant to try this again. In any event, the number and extent of the low patches means that using filler would be extremely laborious and slow. As an alternative I am considering trying High Build Textured Masonry paint (e.g. Johnstone’s Stormsield or Sandtex High Build) to fill-out the low patches. Is this a good or a bad idea? I'm aware that these are intended as textured finishes, but my intention would be to apply (with trowel or brush) and then smooth over. Once the low patches are satisfactory I'd then use regular Sandtex Smooth over the complete walls. Thoughts / comments? Alternative suggestions? Thanks.
I have seen exterior masonry painted surfaces taken off with a steam stripper, might be worth trying to see if that helps?
On another subject, I have used a product called Peelaway to remove many layers of masonry paint. The product is applied by a spreader in a 1-3mm layer, then a blanket is placed over this which delays the drying process. After leaving on for 48 hours the blanket can be removed and a spatula is used to remove the paint., there is no gooey reside. I used this on a Victorian house to remove the paint on stonework, and is one of the best products I have used.
I brought 2 tester pots 150g each as there are two products available; peelaway1 and peelaway7 they cost £12.95 form ebay. I found 1 product better for my conditions. 5kg= £38.75. Although expensive I think it is worth the price. Picture of some work carried out
Nice thought about Peelaway. But in my case it would be 4 sides x 2 storeys of a detached house. No way, José!